Shankaracharya of Puri offers formulaPuri (Orissa), March 15Swami Neeschalananda Dev Teerth, the Shankaracharaya of Puri Goverdhan
Peeth, today came out with a three-point formula for resolving the Ram temple stalemate at Ayodhya.

Law has prevailed: CongressNew Delhi, March 15The Congress today expressed relief that “law of land had eventually prevailed in Ayodhya” but took exception to the PMO sending one of its official to Ayodhya for shila
dan.

SP members stage walkout in LSNew Delhi, March 15Samajwadi Party members today staged a noisy walkout in the Lok Sabha after they were denied permission by the Chair to move an adjournment motion on the Prime Minister’s statement on Ayodhya in the House yesterday.

Laloo flays Centre for not arresting MahantPatna, March 15RJD Chief Laloo Prasad Yadav today criticised the Centre for not arresting the VHP, Bajrang Dal leaders and President of the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas Paramhans Ramchandra Das in Ayodhya.

Policeman talk on their radios outside the Jama Masjid
mosque in New Delhi on Thursday. Security around the mosque has been increased due to events in
Ayodhya.
— Reuters

Gujarat violence a natural reaction: RSSBangalore, March 15Describing the violence after the Godhra incident as a “natural reaction of Hindus”, the RSS today gave a clean chit to the Narendra Modi administration in Gujarat, saying that no government could have controlled the “upsurge.”In video (28k,
56k)

An elephant paints a large canvas during an art camp in
Jaipur, in this photo taken on Thursday. Organisers said the camp was
set up to stop animal cruelty and the elephant paintings would be auctioned to raise money for animal welfare.
— Reuters

Recruitment rally tragedy: court of inquiry orderedNew Delhi, March 15A court of inquiry has been ordered by Army’s Central Command to go into the incident of the drowning of 21 youths in a sewage tank during a recruitment drive in Lucknow yesterday, Defence Minister George Fernandes said here today.

Blackwill for patent law in IndiaNew Delhi, March 15US Ambassador to India Robert D. Blackwill today said the absence of a world-class product patent law in India that covers inventions, consistent with WTO norms, was a serious obstacle to the promotion of public-private sector cooperation, to foreign investment and thus to economic growth.

NORTH INDIA IN PARLIAMENT
Punjab implementing schemes on fruitsNew Delhi, March 15The Centre has been implementing centrally sponsored schemes on integrated development of vegetables including root and tuber crops and integrated development of tropical, arid and temperate zone fruits” in Punjab.

Laloo, Shatrughan file papersPatna, March 15Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav put to rest all speculations about his candidature for the Rajya Sabha seat as he, along with his once friend and now political foe, Mr Ranjan Yadav, and three others filed his papers on Wednesday.

Vora, Natwar Cong candidates for RSNew Delhi, March 15AICC Treasurer Motilal Vora, former Union Ministers Murali Deora and Natwar Singh are among the Congress candidates for the March 27 biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha.

Kamal Nath’s motel fined Rs 10 lakhNew Delhi, March 15The Supreme Court today imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh on a motel constructed by the family of senior Congress leader Kamal Nath on the banks of the Beas near Manali in Himachal Pradesh.

Kaul takes over as CAGNew Delhi, March 15Mr Vijayendra N. Kaul, former Petroleum Secretary, today took over as the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.
He was administered the oath of office by President K.R. Narayanan. Mr Kaul succeeds
V.K. Shunglu, who retires today.

Puri (Orissa), March 15
Swami Neeschalananda Dev Teerth, the Shankaracharaya of Puri Goverdhan Peeth, today came out with a three-point formula for resolving the Ram temple stalemate at Ayodhya.

Addressing newspersons here, the Shankaracharaya emphasised the need for the construction of the Ram temple at Ayodhya, adding that the temple should be built for the benefit of the whole nation, without compromising national security and integrity.

Leaders of both the communities should sit together and resolve the issue, he suggested.

As the second part of the formula, the Swami suggested that the Centre should negotiate with “more humanitarian Muslims”, who were not opposed to the Ram temple construction.

In this regard, he said Muslims in India were treated on par with the Hindus in all respects. They had even occupied very high positions in the elected bodies of the country.
UNI

New Delhi, March 15
The Congress today expressed relief that “law of land had eventually prevailed in Ayodhya” but took exception to the PMO sending one of its official to Ayodhya for shila dan.

What happened today on account of the order of the Supreme Court is a magnificent tribute to the resilience and intrinsic the strength of the Indian democracy, Congress chief spokesman Jaipal Reddy said.

“It’s court’s order that has saved our democracy in India,’’ he said.

The spokesman said the party was not opposed to shila daan, because it took place outside the acquired land. Referring to the participation of PMO official in shila daan , he said it could easily have been performed by citizens and leaders of religious organisations.

PMO official’s participation at today’s function, Mr Reddy said, amounted to violation of law. The government official should have not have been there, he said. “I do not know what role the government officer has to play in a purely religious function. What he will do with this (shila),” Mr Reddy said, adding that he hoped the government had not landed itself in another problem.

Expressing concern at reports of communal tension in some parts of Gujarat, he hoped that the government would take appropriate steps to prevent deterioration in situation.

Asked to compare with the situation in 1992, Mr Reddy said that the system had the ability to learn from its mistakes. Responding to questions about the shilanayas in 1989, he said the ceremony took place outside the disputed area. He said that though the Congress leaders were present at the function, they did not participate in it. “No government official participated in the ceremony,” he said.

New Delhi, March 15
Samajwadi Party members today staged a noisy walkout in the Lok Sabha after they were denied permission by the Chair to move an adjournment motion on the Prime Minister’s statement on Ayodhya in the House yesterday.

The SP members began their demand for an adjournment motion soon after the House convened for the day and they wanted the Question Hour to be suspended.

However, with other Opposition parties refusing to lend them support, the irate members trooped into the well of the House and staged a dharna to press for their demand. Business continued in the House despite slogan raising by SP members for 75 minutes and finally the members staged a walkout.

Disallowing the adjournment motion, Deputy Speaker P.M. Sayeed observed that it was decided at a meeting of the party leaders this morning that a discussion under Rule 193 would take place on the Ayodhya issue and the time and date would be fixed by the Business Advisory Committee this afternoon.

SP Chief Whip Ramji Lal Suman said the treasury benches deliberately disrupted the proceedings of the House yesterday and did not allow the Opposition to seek clarification on the Prime Minister’s statement.

He said discussion on the adjournment motion be taken up
immediately as the issue was crucial. When the Deputy Speaker reiterated his ruling, the SP members staged a walkout.

The Deputy Speaker said the members’ “attitude” was not good as they disrupted the Question Hour every day and firmly told them “I am not going to allow your adjournment motion.”

Patna, March 15
RJD Chief Laloo Prasad Yadav today criticised the Centre for not arresting the VHP, Bajrang Dal leaders and President of the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas Paramhans Ramchandra Das in Ayodhya and accused it of having a nexus with the Sangh Parivar.

By not arresting the VHP, Bajrang Dal leaders and the Mahant, it was proved beyond doubt that Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Home Minister L.K. Advani were having a nexus with the Sangh Parivar outfits, Mr Yadav told reporters here.

Accusing the Mahant of indulging in a provocative drama, the RJD leader said the Mahant had earlier declared that he would end his life if prevented from moving out of the ‘VHP workshop’ to donate a carved stone as planned but subsequently climbed down at the behest of Mr Vajpayee and Mr Advani.

He said the Centre stood thoroughly exposed on the Ram temple issue and the riots in Gujarat.

Mr Yadav accused several BJP leaders, including Vajpayee and Advani of making a sinister bid to regain people’s confidence by reviving the Hindu cards following the humiliating defeat of the BJP and its allies in the recent Assembly poll.

Alleging that the Gujarat riots were pre-planned, Mr Yadav said the Narendra Modi government could have averted the riots that claimed over 700 lives.
PTI

Bangalore, March 15
Describing the violence after the Godhra incident as a “natural reaction of Hindus”, the RSS today gave a clean chit to the Narendra Modi administration in Gujarat, saying that no government could have controlled the “upsurge.”

While expressing the view that the “natural reaction (the violence)” was unjustifiable, RSS spokesperson M.G. Vaidya said “whole Hindu society irrespective of caste, creed and political affiliations, reacted violently against what had happened at Godhra.”

Asked if the Narendra Modi government was to be blamed for the violence after the Godhra carnage, he told reporters at Channenahalli near here, where the three-day RSS general council meeting was in progress, “No government could have controlled the upsurge.”

Responding to a question, Mr Vaidya said it was wrong to link the Godhra incident with the Ayodhya movement. “Why only Muslims of Godhra were agitated, why not Muslims near Ayodhya,” he asked.

The BJP has no links with the RSS as it moved away from the RSS agenda in 1999 itself when it dropped the Ram temple issue from its plank, he said.

“We have no links with the BJP. Only that some Swayamsevaks are in the government,” Mr Vaidya told reporters at Channenahalli on the city outskirts where the RSS general council is holding its three-day session.

Mr Vaidya said the BJP moved away from the RSS agenda in 1999, when NDA agenda was finalised. Till 1998, the BJP had the Ram temple issue on its agenda but dropped it in 1999.

“They (BJP) won on the NDA agenda”, he said.

In a veiled attack on the BJP Vajpayee Government, the RSS today took a dig at the “hesitation and nervousness of Ram “bhaktas” sitting in the treasury benches” on the Ayodhya issue but said the “fast growing, countrywide Hindu awakening” and peaceful solution of the issue would command popular support.

“While we note the zeal of the sants and Ram sevaks for the construction of the Ram temple, the hesitation and nervousness of the Ram bhaktas sitting on treasury benches is also visible”, RSS General Secretary Mohanrao Bhagwat told the RSS annual meet here in an apparent reference to the BJP’s current compulsions on account of coalition politics.

Sharply criticising the opposition parties for trying to gain political mileage on the issue, he said “they are the ones who have gathered some electoral mileage after the recent elections and want to earn further political advantage by creating such hurdles”.
PTI

New Delhi, March 15
Amidst growing demands for rolling back the hike in prices of cooking gas and kerosene, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today held a review meeting of the oil sector with Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha and Petroleum Minister Ram Naik.

The meeting assumes importance in the wake of an increase of about $ 3 in internatioanl crude prices since the presentation of the Union Budget for 2002-03 which translates into an additional burden of upto Rs 20 per cylinder of cooking gas and Rs 1.35 per litre on kerosene.

Mr Vajpayee on March 11 had assured a delegation of BJP Mahila Morcha that the government would examine the issue of reduction in the Rs 40 per cylinder hike in prices of LPG and Rs 1.50 per litre of kerosene.

Mr Naik declined to divulge details of the discussion that he had with Mr Vajpayee and Mr Sinha on the possibilities of rolling back the increase in prices of the two cooking medium made effective from the night of February 28.
PTI

New Delhi, March 15
A court of inquiry has been ordered by Army’s Central Command to go into the incident of the drowning of 21 youths in a sewage tank during a recruitment drive in Lucknow yesterday, Defence Minister George Fernandes said here today.

In a statement in the Lok Sabha, the Defence Minister said an ex-gratia of Rs 1 lakh each to next of kin of the dead by the Centre and by the UP Government has also been announced.

While the Prime Minister has announced ex-gratia of Rs 1 lakh, the state government has also declared a matching grant for the families of those killed besides Rs 25,000 each to those seriously injured and Rs 5000 each to those with minor injuries, he said.

Giving details of the incident, he said about 5,000 youths had assembled in the cantonment area for the recruitment rally and over 100 of them sat on the concrete roof of a sewage tank, waiting for the rally to begin.

“Probably due to the overload, the sewage tank roof collapsed and several young men fell into the tank,” he said adding prompt relief and rescue operations were launched to save the victims.

The minister said 21 bodies had been recovered and three injured young men were under treatment in command hospital.

New Delhi, March 15
US Ambassador to India Robert D. Blackwill today said the absence of a world-class product patent law in India that covers inventions, consistent with WTO norms, was a serious obstacle to the promotion of public-private sector cooperation, to foreign investment and thus to economic growth.

Inaugurating a symposium here on managing intellectual property rights, Mr Blackwill said: “It is simply a fact of life that India and foreign firms alike will be reluctant to invest in research and development in India if they cannot be sure that their innovations
will be safe from unauthorised exploitation.”

He said the US would like to find ways to assist India in increasing the size and capabilities of the patent office.

Scientific Adviser to the Government, Dr R. Chidambaram, said in India, the government funded about 80 per cent of research and development activities.

NORTH INDIA IN PARLIAMENT
Punjab implementing schemes on fruitsTribune News Service

New Delhi, March 15
The Centre has been implementing centrally sponsored schemes on integrated development of vegetables including root and tuber crops and integrated development of tropical, arid and temperate zone fruits” in Punjab.

During 2001-02 funds amounting to Rs 237 lakhs had been made available for the development of horticulture to the state, out of which Rs 201.59 lakhs were for development of fruits and vegetables, the Minister of Agriculture, Mr Ajit Singh told the Rajya Sabha today in a written reply.

Besides, the Punjab Government was implementing schemes on improvement of quality of perlette variety grapes, integrated development of fruits, development of vegetables, development of onion, seed production, establishment of nutritional gardens in rural areas, transfer of technology through training and visits of fruit and vegetable growers and transmission of technology through extension, demonstration, training in horticulture practices, the Minister said. During 2001-02 the state government had made available Rs 51.78 lakh financial assistance to fruits and vegetable growers of the state.

Further, the National Horticulture Board had released Rs 6 lakh during 2001-02 for Punjab for strengthening post-harvest management, Rs 6.68 lakh for the implementation of technology development and transfer for promotion of horticulture, Rs 0.78 lakh for organising seminars and exhibitions and Rs 1.15 lakh for visit of progressive
farmers, the minister said.

The National Horticulture Board has also sanctioned seven cold storages creating additional capacity of 25391 MT in the state under the capital investment subsidy scheme for expansion and modernisation of cold storages for which financial assistance amounting to Rs 131.24 lakh had been made available in Punjab, the minister said.

According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), media reports on February 7 and February 8 that Bank of Punjab Limited was facing financial strain resulted in an immediate rush for premature withdrawals of deposits from some of its branches in the Abohar belt of Punjab and Sriganganagar district in Rajasthan. The net withdrawals in the bank on February 7, 2002 was Rs 10.26 crore and February 8, 2002 was Rs 100.18 crore, the Minister of State of Finance, Mr Balasaheb Vikhe Patil told the Lok Sabha in a written reply today.

The Bank of Punjab made immediate arrangements to provide cash to the affected branches to instill confidence among the depositors. As a result, the situation was brought under control on February 8 and February 9 and deposits withdrawn by the people started flowing back into the same branches gradually, the minister told the House.

Patna, March 15
Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav put to rest all speculations about his candidature for the Rajya Sabha (RS) seat as he, along with his once friend and now political foe, Mr Ranjan Yadav, and three others filed his papers on Wednesday.

Hot contest is on the cards for the five RS seats in Bihar and two in Jharkhand. The poll will take place on March 27. Although the RJD Parliamentary Board had unanimously opted to field Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav to enter the fray for the RS seat for the first time, Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav had not confirmed his nomination. However, he came to file his papers with most senior ministers of the Rabri regime along with the Chief Minister.

His political enemy number one, Mr Ranjan Yadav, also filed his papers who was once projected as the ‘Yadav alternative’ of Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav. This has led to the expulsion of Mr Ranjan Yadav from the RJD. Mr Ranjan Yadav is backed by the LJP chief and Union Minister, Mr Ramvilas Paswan. The Samata leader, Mr Nitish Kumar, has also fielded his candidate in the form of Mr Vashishtha Narayan Singh.

The BJP Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, Mr Shushil Modi, however, said he only wished that Mr Ranjan Yadav won along with the official candidates of the BJP-Samata. That could be possible only when the RJD-Congress alliance considered giving its second vote to him.

New Delhi, March 15
AICC Treasurer Motilal Vora, former Union Ministers Murali Deora and Natwar Singh are among the Congress candidates for the March 27 biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha.

A former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Mr Vora will be the party’s candidate from Chhattisgarh along with Mr Ramaadhar Kashyap. Mr Natwar Singh and Mr Abrar Ahmed would be party candidates from Rajasthan. Mr T Subbirami Reddy and Ms Nandiellaiah would contest from Andhra Pradesh.

New Delhi, March 15
The Supreme Court today imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh on a motel constructed by the family of senior Congress leader Kamal Nath on the banks of the Beas near Manali in Himachal Pradesh.

A Bench comprising Justice M.B. Shah and Justice Doraiswamy Raju held that Span Motel, which had occupied some areas of the river’s bed, was liable to pay a fine of Rs 10 lakh for causing damage to the sensitive ecology of the area.

The Bench directed the money to be deposited with the state government for using it in the damage control exercise in the area.

Mr M.C. Mehta, an environment activist, had filed the petition, alleging that serious ecological damage had been caused by the motel by expanding its boundary to the riverbed and changing the course of the river.

New Delhi, March 15
The Cabinet last night approved the National Policy on Cooperatives which aims at facilitating their development as self-reliant and economically viable organisations. The policy will also ensure professionalisation and democratisation of the operations of cooperatives.

New Delhi, March 15
The Rajya Sabha will not have any sitting tomorrow as per the earlier schedule to take up the private members’ business.

The decision was taken after senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee suggested that private members’ business scheduled for tomorrow could be taken up next week.

NATIONAL BRIEFS

56-YR-OLD GIVES BIRTH TO BABY
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A 56-year-old woman gave birth to a healthy baby through artificial reproductive technology at a private hospital here on Wednesday. Probably the oldest woman to give birth in South India, Mrs Blossom Kannambal Vanrose delivered a female child, weighing 2.7 kg, at the city-based Samad Hospital. Doctor said Hormone Replacement therapy was administered as the woman had attained menopause.
UNI

RESCUE CENTRE FOR PREGNANT TIGRESSES
KOLKATA: The West Bengal Forest Department is planning to set up a rescue centre-cum safari park in South 24 Parganas for the pregnant Royal Bengal tigresses of the Sunderbans. Forest Minister Jogesh Burman told the state Assembly on Thursday that his department’s aim was to save the cubs, who were often killed by male tigers.
UNI

EX-MP MAVLANKAR DEAD
AHMEDABAD: Noted educationist and former MP Purshottam Ganesh Mavlankar died here on Thursday after a prolonged illness. He was 73. He is survived by his wife, a daughter and two sons. According to family sources, Mavlankar was suffering from Parkinson’s disease for the past eight years.
UNI

NEW UTTARANCHAL SPEAKER
DEHRA DUN: Congress MLA and Dalit leader Yashpal Arya was unanimously elected Speaker of the first elected Assembly of Uttaranchal on Friday. Seven proposals favouring the candidature of Mr Arya were put forward in the 70-member House which passed them by a voice vote.
PTI

UTTARANCHAL TO GET AID TO CLEAR SNOW
DEHRA DUN: Uttaranchal will receive a central assistance of Rs 5 crore for acquiring snow-cutters to clear roads, which get blocked due to snow during winter in the state, especially in the border areas. Chief Minister N.D. Tiwari had urged Defence Minister George Fernandes for the grant. Mr Tiwari had specially mentioned the need to keep the Rishikesh-Mana road clear of snow during winter, official sources said here on Friday.
UNI